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This study addresses the problem of insufficient emphasis on art courses in helping students develop 21st-century skills. As globalization continues, industries increasingly interconnect, creating a necessity for 21st-century skills. Universities are responsible for equipping the next generation of scholars with the soft skills needed to succeed, such as creativity, adaptability, innovation and collaboration. However, universities disservice students and their future employers by isolating departments and overlooking collaboration opportunities. Rather than this narrow-minded approach to education, academia must challenge the status quo and reflect on the needs of an increasingly globalized world. This research study used a qualitative single case study methodology based on constructivist learning theory and design thinking to analyse the effect of art education courses taken by non-art majors on students' development of 21st-century skills. The literature examines why a lack of emphasis on the arts exists and what skills students gain through arts exposure.

Low family socioeconomic status (SES) has been noted to impact children and youths' development, specifically in cognitive skills and risky behaviors (Brieant et al., 2021). Low SES often increases stressors for parents, may hinder monitoring of youth if parents must work multiple jobs, and may impact child-parent quality time and bonding (Conger & Conger, 2002). It also presents barriers to cognitively stimulating resources and social activities. Children from lower SES families are less likely to visit the zoo, go to museums, or attend cultural arts performances, which are important for positive, healthy development (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002). Youth from low-income families and communities often have low quality resources for mental health, fewer organized activities for youth and families, and decreased social support in comparison to moderate- to high-income families (Andrews et al., 2015). Some of the overall strategies to offset risks for youth from low-SES or high-crime neighborhoods include teaching life skills, providing healthy after-school activities, and connecting youth with positive, caring adults (CDC, 2021). The Prodigy Cultural Arts program was developed to offer an after-school program in a neighborhood where youth often experience low SES and have few free, enriching activities, especially after school. The program includes cultural arts programming embedded with life skills and envisions itself as an early prevention program for youth in the surrounding community. The purpose of this study was to add empirical information about arts-based youth programs and life skills in after-school programming. The specific research questions asked whether there were any differences in life skills, risk, and protective factors for the youth after completion of the Prodigy program.

The purpose of this single case study was to determine how a project-based learning approach to instructional design supported education doctorate students' acquisition of new knowledge and practical application of skills in their current and future professions. Participants included 58 students in an online EdD instructional design course. We found that 72% of students credited the design project for scaffolding their learning about instructional design and 80% saw an immediate application of the instructional design project to their current professional roles. Further, 93% of students could foresee the application of new knowledge and skills to future professional opportunities. This study has implications for those who teach EdD courses and are interested in providing a project-based approach to content acquisition and teaching skills students can apply in their professional organizations, both current and future.

Abstract Background The convergence of global demographic changes and rising humanitarian crises in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has raised the number of affected older people (OP). These individuals face the challenges of aging and the adverse conditions of disasters, particularly pronounced in LMICs. This review aims to explore literature on the health and well-being of older populations during humanitarian crises in LMICs. Methods This scoping review included primary studies on the health and well-being of older populations in humanitarian crises in LMIC. A search was conducted in five bibliographic databases last updated in 2023. A numerical summary and thematic analysis of study characteristics and themes were executed and findings were narratively synthesized. Results A total of 84 eligible studies were included. The majority of studies were quantitative (n = 56), followed by qualitative (n = 22) and mixed-methods (n = 6). Most literature focuses on the high burden of mental health conditions and their determinants, such as depression, anxiety, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The second most common theme is physical health, discussing high levels of mortality, disability, some non-communicable diseases, and limited evidence on the poor nutritional status. OP lack access to routine healthcare due to cost barriers. The key gaps in the literature are in mental and psychosocial health, especially pertaining to vulnerabilities and risk factors, and to contextualized interventions. Physical health research is relatively narrow lacking a wider range of chronic diseases while no research was performed on communicable diseases other than COVID-19. Conclusions Findings show the complex vulnerabilities of OP in humanitarian crises which exacerbate their physical, mental, and psychosocial health outcomes. There is a need to strengthen evidence on the effectiveness of interventions, and to investigate determinants of health, especially mental and psychosocial health, across different contexts. Research should also explore cross-cutting issues like gender, access to livelihoods, and equitable access to humanitarian assistance.

Targeting tumor-specific molecular alterations has shown significant clinical benefit. Molecular tumor boards (MTBs) connect cancer patients with personalized treatments and clinical trials. However, rural cancer centers often have limited access to MTB expertise. We established an academic–community partnership expanding our academic MTB to affiliated rural community cancer centers. We developed a centralized molecular registry of tumors (MRT) to aggregate the comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) results and facilitate multidisciplinary MTB review. Of the 151 patients included, 87 (58%) had actionable genomic biomarkers, 42 (28%) were eligible for a targeted off-label therapy, and 27 (18%) were matched to a clinical trial. Of those with a clinical trial match, only 1 of 27 (3%) was enrolled in the identified trial. One year into implementation, community oncology providers were anonymously surveyed on persistent barriers to precision treatment utilization. The primary barriers to clinical trial enrollment were the distance to the trial center (70%), lack of transportation (55%), and lack of local trials (50%). This study offers a framework to improve access to molecular expertise, but significant barriers to the equitable use of CGP and trial enrollment persist.

Purpose – The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to determine the perceptions of preservice teachers (PSTs) on the effectiveness of instructional rounds as a clinical experience in promoting awareness of student diversity and supporting the acquisition of professional knowledge (Essential 2). Design/methodology/approach – The instructional rounds were implemented in a junior-level general pedagogy course prior to formal clinical experiences. Professional development school (PDS) personnel supported the course instructors by scheduling the classroom observations, supervising groups of PSTs and debriefing the PSTs after each observation (Essentials 4 and 8). The data were collected through an end-of-course survey of 18 secondary PSTs. Findings – There were several themes that emerged from the analysis of data. First, the study revealed that PSTs credited the variety of campuses visited as supporting their awareness of student diversity and varied instructional strategies. Second, PSTs acknowledged that the instructional rounds supported their connection of theory to practice. Finally, over 70% of the participants noted that they most enjoyed in-person experiences in different classrooms to observe students and teachers in action. Research limitations/implications – The findings for this study were specific to the teacher preparation program (TPP) utilized for the research. Each TPP requires different coursework and clinical experiences; therefore, the inclusion of instructional rounds may not be possible in all programs. Yet, the implementation of the rounds as a PST experience prior to clinical experiences is a strategy to consider to support the preparation of PSTs for their clinical experiences. Originality/value – This study supports the continuation of instructional rounds at the teacher preparation program where the research was conducted. This research also informs other TPPs that strive to provide early clinical experiences that support PSTs’ emerging perceptions of student diversity and applications of instructional knowledge.

Low-lying, tropical, coral-reef-lined coastlines are becoming increasingly vulnerable to wave-driven flooding due to population growth, coral reef degradation, and sea-level rise. Early-warning systems (EWSs) are needed to enable coastal authorities to issue timely alerts and coordinate preparedness and evacuation measures for their coastal communities. At longer timescales, risk management and adaptation planning require robust assessments of future flooding hazard considering uncertainties. However, due to diversity in reef morphologies and complex reef hydrodynamics compared to sandy shorelines, there have been no robust analytical solutions for wave runup to allow for the development of large-scale coastal wave-driven flooding EWSs and risk assessment frameworks for reef-lined coasts. To address the need for fast, robust predictions of runup that account for the natural variability in coral reef morphologies, we constructed the BEWARE-2 (Broad-range Estimator of Wave Attack in Reef Environments) meta-process modeling system. We developed this meta-process model using a training dataset of hydrodynamics and wave runup computed by the XBeach Non-Hydrostatic process-based hydrodynamic model for 440 combinations of water level, wave height, and wave period with 195 representative reef profiles that encompass the natural diversity in real-world fringing coral reef systems. Through this innovation, BEWARE-2 can be applied in a larger range of coastal settings than meta-models that rely on a parametric description of the coral reef geometry. In the validation stage, the BEWARE-2 modeling system produced runup results that had a relative root mean square error of 13 % and relative bias of 5 % relative to runup simulated by XBeach Non-Hydrostatic for a large range of oceanographic forcing conditions and for diverse reef morphologies (root mean square error and bias 0.63 and 0.26 m, respectively, relative to mean simulated wave runup of 4.85 m). Incorporating parametric modifications in the modeling system to account for variations in reef roughness and beach slope allows for systematic errors (relative bias) in BEWARE-2 predictions to be reduced by a factor of 1.5–6.5 for relatively coarse or smooth reefs and mild or steep beach slopes. This prediction provided by the BEWARE-2 modeling system is faster by 4–5 orders of magnitude than the full, process-based hydrodynamic model and could therefore be integrated into large-scale EWSs for tropical, reef-lined coasts and used for large-scale flood risk assessments.